What's Engraved in the Body
by ionica01
Summary: Winry walkes in on Edward when he's changing and catches a glimpse at his scars. So many scars, so many he had never told her about... Edward hates seeing Winry cry-not because she was any less jarring, he actually wondered how she could be so breathtaking while forming a puddle around her- but because every time a tear rolled down her cheek, he felt a part of his heart break...


Winry stomped up the stairs and towards Ed's bedroom. He was always, _always_ late for breakfast. He should be happy she didn't have a wrench on her right then.

She slammed the door to his room unceremoniously against the wall, not caring whether it would leave a mark in the fresh paint or not. With an annoyed voice, she started yelling at him, "Edward Elric, breakfast is rea-"

The words caught into her throat as soon as she saw him, making her choke on her ire.

He was getting dressed besides his bed, and she walked in on him as he was about to pull his shirt on. He did so quickly, as soon as she entered, but what was seen could not be unseen.

"Winry!" he reprimanded her in a bashful tone, "knock before you enter, will you?!" He was blushing and his voice was almost as filled with annoyance as hers had been when she had walked in. However, his eyes soon found the concern in the mechanic's and he softened his tone, "Winry?"

The sun had been shining directly on his bare abdomen and back, giving life to scars she had never seen. So, _so_ much more than she thought he'd bare.

Edward stared at her, understanding what had happened. He scratched the back of his neck, searching for words to fill the strangely heavy silence. Damn, he wasn't good with words!

"Can I see it?" Winry requested in a pleading tone, her voice quivering. She had never thought he carried so many painful memories under his shirt, had never seen them. She doubted she even knew what had caused half of them. What kind of friend was she?!

"The food will get cold," Ed answered with less enthusiasm than he wanted to put into his words, and Winry knew he was denying her request. She nodded remorsefully and reluctantly turned around on her heels, taking a couple of steps into the hallway. However, she couldn't hear Ed's metal foot behind her, so she whirled around again.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked him, trying to sound cheerful.

He was glancing at the floor beneath his feet, contemplating what to do. Eventually, he pulled his shirt off: she was his childhood friend and his automail mechanic. She deserved to know.

Winry gaped at him, but quickly traversed the distance between them with shaky steps and stopped within arm's reach. She couldn't get herself to make another step.

His back looked even worse, now that she got a better look. There were at least 10… No, 14 scars, if she counted the smaller ones too. And right in the middle of his back loomed the remnants of what must have been a terrible blow. She forced her eyes shut to tear her gaze from it.

Slowly, her fingertips brushed against his bare back, from the scar left by his automail to the one right below it, which looked like a sword scar. She felt Ed shiver under her touch.

"Sorry, does it hurt?"

"No. Not anymore."

Ed felt her soft hands going over every ugly cicatrice. Her light touch somehow felt like she healed him. Well, not his skin, but his soul.

To his surprise, she asked no questions. She just stood there behind him, carefully touching each place with fingers that became warmer and warmer. He didn't turn around to see her once during this ritual. He didn't need to, when he could feel she was there for him, with him.

She circled his whole back, leaving the nastiest one last. Ed finally cleared his throat and spoke:

"That one's from when I was impaled."

He felt her fingers trembling on his skin, her voice merely a whisper when she repeated:

"Impaled…?"

"I seriously thought I would die at the time." He smiled sadly, shaking his head slowly from side to side. Suddenly, Edward felt the heat of her body mixing with his own, her frame pushing into his tightly and her fingers lacing around his waist.

"Don't talk like that!" She told him off, her voice muffled by his hair, in which her face had sank.

"But it's true." Her grip on him fastened. "I… Actually, I think I made it through thanks to you and Al." He placed a hand over hers when he felt her quivering against him. "I thought that if I die, I could never make you cry out of happiness." He gave her hand a small squeeze, his other hand rumbling through his pocket. "It's these that reminded me of you." He admitted, pulling out her earrings.

Winry raised her head from his neck and eyed the jewelry before sinking her brow back into the safety zone.

"You should have them back," Ed eventually said.

"No," she answered, "keep them." After a pause, she added, "If that's what it takes to keep you alive." Her voice broke at the end of the phrase, and a tear she had been holding in for a while now rolled down her cheek and into his messy bangs. Another one followed soon afterwards, and then another. Once the barrage holding them back was down, a whole river starting flowing from her eyes.

Ed felt his neck getting damp, and broke off from the hug to finally look at Winry.

The sight paralyzed him: she was crying quietly, her fingers curling into fists by her sides, but her eyes weren't tearing their gaze from him at all. And it wasn't his scars she was watching so intently, but his eyes.

Ed put his hands on her shoulders, unsure what to do. He really hated it when she cried, not because she was any less jarring- he was actually bewildered how beautiful she could be while forming a puddle around her- but because he felt something within him broke whenever he saw a tear leak from the corner of her eye. She was too kind, too good to deserve being saddened, and she always cried in his stead.

"Winry…" He muttered, bringing her closer yet again to assure her that he was there. And that he was alive.

Winry let Edward wrap a protective arm around her and pull him into his chest. If her voice wouldn't have been so hoarse and if she didn't know that opening her mouth would cause sobs to leap out uncontrollably, she would have told Ed that she was crying out of happiness. Joy that he was now alive; and that him and Al were back in their bodies.

"I still think you should take the earrings back," he spoke when her shoulders stopped rising and falling so fast and when her tears had dried on her cheeks. "I bought them for you in the first place. And besides," he added, pulling her an inch away to look her in the eyes and rub a thumb over a stray tear, "it would remind me of why I'm alive."

Winry nodded, letting out a strained sob and cupping her hand to take them back. She watched Ed pull his shirt back on and finally spoke, "Ed, thank you. For keeping them." He nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "And for coming home alive," she added.

"You would have wrenched me if I dared die," he laughed. "Now come on, I'm hungry!" He lamented, dragging her downstairs.

From her place behind him, Winry marveled again at how broad his shoulders were. And now, she hoped that her own shoulders, small in comparison, could help carry at least a fraction of the burden Edward had shouldered alone.


End file.
